Fort Manoel
The Fort Manoel is during the reign of the Order of St. John , built from 1722 Fortress in Malta . Located on Manoel Island in Marsamxett Harbor , the fort was the penultimate major fortification that the Order built on the archipelago. It represents the conclusion and at the same time the climax in the development of the bastionary fortifications on Malta.
prehistory
Manoel Island , located in Marsamxett Harbor , at the time simply called Isoletto , dominates this second large natural harbor in Malta. While a dense settlement developed around the Grand Harbor , this part of the island remained only sparsely populated until the 18th century. Taking advantage of this fact, a hospital was built on Manoel Island in 1643 , which served to quarantine people suffering from plague and cholera . The fortifications of the Order of St. John were also concentrated around the area of the Grand Harbor. The headland opposite Fort St Elmo , also known as Dragut Point , initially remained unsurfaced, as did Isoletto . From the land side, this area of the main island was only secured by a network of observation towers. A breakthrough of opposing forces in Marsamxett Harbor could not be prevented from either the land or the sea. At the latest with the construction of the city of Valletta , however , the importance of Isoletto became clearly recognizable: Valletta could be shot at with artillery from the island . The St Michels bastion on the Valletta Land Front would have been exposed to the fire of enemy artillery largely without protection. There was also a blind spot at the foot of the fortifications for the guns of the St Michels Bastion . Therefore, as early as 1569, an unknown author proposed to erect a cavalier on Isoletto , from which the area immediately in front of the St Michels Bastion could be painted. In the interior of Isoletto , the cavalier was to be protected against infantry attacks by a low wall . This proposal was not implemented, however, in the following years various proposals for the fortification of Isoletto were made , for example by Scipione Campi in 1577 and by Giovanni Battista in 1582.
Planning Valpergas
In 1670, Antonio Maurizio Valperga made a new proposal for fortifying Isoletto . According to his ideas, a heptagonal fort with an irregular floor plan should be built on the island. The side facing the harbor entrance side had two half bulwarks and a Tenaille before the two half bulwarks connecting curtain wall . A total of three bastions, which were protected by hornwork , were to be built towards the interior of the island . Compared to the ideas of 1569, the objectives of the fortress to be built had changed. Although the St Michels Bastion could also be secured with this project , the focus was clearly on securing the entrance to Marsamxett Harbor. However, Valperga's proposal was heavily criticized, mainly because the fort was too small. In addition to Mederico Blondel and Count Vernanda, Carlos de Grunenberg was also among the critics . The Flemish engineer was called to Malta by Grand Master Gregorio Carafa in 1681 and was involved in the planning of various fortifications in the area of the Grand Harbor. For Isoletto , Grunenberg suggested a much larger and more complex fortification. However, since the construction of the Cotonera Lines , the Order's most ambitious project, and Fort Ricasoli began in 1670 , the Order's funds were insufficient to build another fortification. Valperga's proposal is shown on the plan of the fortifications of Malta drawn up by Francesco Collignon .
Planning de Tignés
The French engineer Jacob de Tigné made the next proposals for fortifying the small island in 1722. His design was a small, square fort with four bastions at the corners. A ravelin was in front of the fort on the land side . There was a tenaille between Ravelin and Fort . One version of his plans showed an asymmetrical fort. Like Valperga, de Tigné designed the fort so that it dominated Marsamxett Harbor and secured the harbor side of the St Michels Bastion of the Valletta Land Front. He estimated the cost of his design at 25,000 scudi . De Tigné did not consider the construction of the fort on Isoletto to be urgent.
Planning Maigrets
Almost at the same time as de Tigné, Philippe Maigret made another proposal to fortify Isolleto . His proposal consisted in the core of a casemate- equipped redoubt , which was to be built centrally in the interior of the small island. A powerful battery was provided to secure the narrow strip of water between the island and the mainland . The battery and redoubt were to be connected by a long caponier , which was reinforced at regular intervals by trusses . The fortification was designed in such a way that troops from the Redoubt could move safely to the battery position. The redoubt was square and secured by a surrounding ditch with covered paths . A conical powder magazine was to be built in the center of the Redoubt, similar to the one built in Fort Chambray . Maigret estimated the cost to be 2650 Scudi. He also did not see the construction of a fortification at this point as urgent.
Construction of the fort
The opportunity to fortify the island arose during the reign of the Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena , who provided considerable financial resources for the construction of the fort. Vilhena paid for the fort from his private assets and set up a fund of 6,000 scudi for the manning and maintenance of the fort. According to other information, about 10,000 Scudi were to be redeemed annually from the fund, in addition to the maintenance of the fort, a new cannon had to be procured from these funds every three years. The decision to build the fort was made in 1723. The French-born engineer Charles François de Mondion was commissioned to develop the final design. De Mondion only slightly modified de Tignés' design. The foundation stone was laid on September 14, 1723 in the presence of the Grand Master. The construction of the fort proceeded quickly, by 1732 the trenches had been driven into the limestone.
Fort Manoel has a strictly symmetrical structure. It has a square plan. At the corners of the square are four bastions: Notre Dame and St John on the north-west side of the land facing the interior of the island, St Helen and St Antony on the sea side facing the harbor. While a cavalier was erected on each of the landside bastions, a powder magazine was located on each of the lower bastions on the seafront. The two cavaliers are connected by another curtain wall, in which casemates were laid out to accommodate the fort's crew. A large ravelin with two half capons is in front of the landside curtain wall. In the Ravelin there is a larger room that served as a gathering point for up to one hundred soldiers. As already envisaged in de Tignés' design, there is a tenaille between the ravelin and the curtain wall. The main entrance of the fort on the lake side is protected by a Demi-Lune (or Couvre Porte ). The fort is surrounded on three sides by a dry moat with covered paths, which is interrupted by trusses. In the countercarpe, there are arsenals for weapons opposite the two side curtains and the faces of the Ravelin. An extensive system of counter mine tunnels was created below the glacis . A total of five buildings were erected in the fort's courtyard. Opposite the main entrance is the chapel dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua . The design of the chapel is occasionally attributed to the Italian architect Romano Carapecchia , but it is also possible that Mondian implemented his own design here. The other buildings around the square in the shape of a horseshoe housed accommodations, the armory and a prison. In the building on the right of the chapel the chaplain and the section commanders of the fort were housed, in the one on the left the commandant of the fort and the armory. There are two large cisterns below the square . A statue of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena was erected in the middle of the fort. This statue is attributed to the Maltese sculptor Pietro Paolo Troisi .
The fort was rated as defensive and overall successful. However, some of the existing buildings on the island turned out to be problematic. On the one hand, there was a larger, now disused storage building inside the islands. However, the buildings of the hospital turned out to be more problematic, as they would have enabled a possible opponent to approach the fort in a covered manner. These buildings represented a not inconsiderable value and could not easily be replaced functionally. Hence, there was strong opposition to the demolition of these buildings.
In peacetime the fort's crew consisted of nineteen soldiers and two boatmen . In the event of war, the fort could accommodate up to 500 soldiers in what was then considered bomb-proof casemates.
Additions 1757–1760
In 1757 a coastal battery was set up at Quala Lembi on the headland opposite the fort, some distance from Dragut Point. Their task was to protect the northern flank and monitor the entrance to Marsamxett Harbor. During the maneuvers of 1760 Fort Manoel was manned by soldiers from the Battaglione delle Galere . For the coastal battery at Quala Lembi , the funds for the crew and ammunition were made available from the fund intended for Fort Manoel. In evaluating the maneuver, French engineers suggested connecting the coastal battery and the fort in order to increase endurance during a longer siege.
French occupation 1798–1800
At the beginning of the French invasion on June 10, 1798, the fort was manned by around 200 soldiers from the Regiment of Cacciatori under the leadership of the knights Gourgeau and La Tour de Saint Quentin . The garrison was from the militia from Birchircara strengthened after a skirmish contact with French troops at St Julians had retreated disorderly. A short time later, the fort was surrounded by French troops led by Marmont . Attempts by the French to take the fort were rejected by the crew. The fort only surrendered after the Order had signed the surrender on board the French flagship.
British colonial 1800–1974
After the islands were occupied by British troops and converted into a British colony, the fort was initially used largely unchanged. In 1860 the curtain on the back was equipped with six 13-inch mortars , eleven 24-pounders on the casemates and carronades in the flanks of the bastions. The front bastions also had these carronades, plus two 8-inch howitzers on each side of the bastions and 10-inch cannons on the bastions. However, the proposals for rearmament of 1859 already provided for a change in armament. Nevertheless, the upgrade was obviously slow.
In 1872 the powder magazine was removed from St Antony . A RML 9 inch 12 ton gun was set up at this point . In addition to this weapon, there were a total of ten 64/32 pounders on the bastions and cavaliers as main armament in 1884. These should remain, while all other guns should be disarmed. In the following year, however, the works committee found that some of the 64-pounders were unfavorably positioned and exposed to enemy fire. In the meantime, these guns could hardly be used in a military sense. Instead of the RML 9 inch 12 ton gun, a RML 7 inch 7 ton gun was to be set up on St Antony , which was to be dismantled by the cavalier of Fort St Elmo . From this point the Marsamxett Harbor could be painted, but also fire fighting against targets on the open sea could be waged. However, the development of Sliema , Fort Tigne and the tip of the Valletta peninsula would have restricted the gun's aiming range. Therefore the proposal was not implemented.
In 1906 there was a serious change in the fort's armament. The position for the RML 9 inch 12 ton gun on St Antony was removed. At this place positions for three QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval guns were built. However, it was already decided in July of this year to remove the three QF 12 pounders and another three QF 6 pounders from the fort. This decision was related to the plans to reorganize the coastal artillery in Malta. The increased range of the cannons had made a large part of the coastal fortifications on Malta unnecessary.
During the Second World War , the island was used by the Royal Navy as a base for submarines. According to British traditions, the fort was known as HMS Talbot or MS Phenicia at that time . At the beginning of the war, anti-aircraft units equipped with the QF 3.7 inch AA gun were stationed on the island . During the war, the island was also used as a camp for prisoners of war. The fort's chapel was destroyed in an attack by the German Air Force in March 1942.
Use after the Second World War
After the withdrawal of British troops from Malta, the fort was no longer used and was largely left to decay. Only the curtain wall on the harbor side with the demi-lune in front was used by the Royal Malta Yacht Club from 1970 to 2009 .
From November 2006 renovation work was carried out on the historic fort. At the same time, extensive new buildings were built on Manoel Island, which radically changed the image of the island. The profit-oriented project goes back to plans from the second half of the 1960s.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Quentin Hughes: Malta. A guide to the fortifications , pp. 145ff
- ↑ Fort St. Angelo on Cottonera Waterfront Regeneration Project (English)
- ↑ a b c d e f Fort Manoel, Malta on Military Architecture
- ↑ Malta Command - WW2 Living History Group (English)
- ↑ Royal Malta Yacht Club (English)
- ↑ Department of Information, Malta, May 7, 1997 (English)
Web links
literature
- Quentin Hughes : Malta. A guide to the fortifications. Said International, 1993, ISBN 9990943-07-9 .
- Stephen C. Spiteri : The Knight's Fortifications: an Illustrated Guide of the Fortifications built by the Knights of St. John in Malta. Book distributors limited, 2001, ISBN 978-99909-72-06-1 .
- Charles Stephenson: The Fortifications of Malta 1530-1945. Osprey Publishing Limited, 2004, ISBN 1-84176-836-7 .
Coordinates: 35 ° 54 ′ 10.3 " N , 14 ° 30 ′ 19.1" E